Changeable-stroke eccentric



(No M11-diem; 2 Sheets-. Shst 1. P. H. RICHARDS.

GHANGEABLB STROKE EGGENTRIG. 1\1 5L10,843.v Patented June 11, 1895.

Wim esse: Y fnv/67H07? 1% la/wy (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheen 2.

- Pl Hl' GHANGBABLE STROKE EGBNTRI.

No. 540,843. Patented June l1, 1895.-

Witnesses:

l UNITED STATES PATENT @Erica FRANCIS H'. RICHARDS, 'OF HARTFORD,CONNECTICUT.

CHANGEABLEiSTROKE ECCENTRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 540,843, dated J une 11, 1895.

Application filed August 18,1894. Serial No. 520,685. (No model.)

.To all vwhom/25' may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen .of the UnitedStates, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inChangeable- Stroke Eccentrics, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to eccentrics of the class having a changeable orregulable stroke or radius; the object being to furnish a device'of thisgeneral character which, while adjustable for dierent strokes, shallform with its co-operating shaft or actuating membera structure having asubstantially solid relation with such shaft or member, whereby thestrains exerted upon the eccentric will be transmitted to andborneprincipally by said shaft or member without aecting the, relativepositions or movements of the several parts of the mechanism.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification,Figure l is' a plan view, partly in section,of a machine embodying mypresent invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same in line a:w, Fig. l, and viewed from the left-hand side thereof. Figs. 3 and 4 areelevations of the adjusting and connecting sleeve for controlling thestroke of the-adjusting member of the eccentric. Figs. 5 and 6 aresimilar views of the adjusting or regulating member of the eccentric.Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are similar views ofthe adjustable member of saideccentric.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

In the embodiment thereof herein shown and described my presentinvention comprises, in combination with a shaft or'similar co-operatingmember, an eccentric adjustingmember, loosely mounted upon said shaft ormember, an adjustable member mounted upon saidadjusting-member, meansfor securing the adjustable-member to t'ne shaft for revoluble movementtherearound while permitting radial adjustment thereof, and meansconnected with the adjusting-member for regulating the radius ofeccentricity.,l

The frame of the machine upon which the main shaft S and the eccentriccarried thereby are mounted is shown herein as formed with a bed-plateB, having journal bearings 2 and for longitudinal movement upon saidshaft.

This sleeve or collar is also shown provided at one side'with a boss orshoulder 3, bored transversely with respect to the shaft, and to themain body of the sleeve, for connection with a suitable operating lever.SaidJever, designated in a general way by L, is shown herein as hingedto said sleeve by means of a pin 4, working in the bore or socket of theprojecting shoulder 3, and thus having a loose vconnection with saidsleeve. Said lever is preferably pivoted as shown at 5, tothe bed of themachine, and is shown also as provided, near its free end, with atransverse slot 6', in the lateral arm 6 thereof, and with aclamping-screw 7, controlling said slot and adapted to lock the lever inany position to which it may be thrown. It will be evident that,according to the direction in which said lever is swung upon its pivotor fulcrum, the sleeve C will he reciprocated upon the shaftS in the onedirection or the other.

The adjusting or regulating member E of the eccentric is shown herein asalso loosely mounted upon the main shaft S, adjacent to the sleeve C,and as provided with a faceplate 8, having a circular periphery andadapted for engagement with and rotation in a corresponding, partiallycircular socket or guide-way 9 of the sleeve, which guide-way is formedin the head of said sleeve between the inner'member lO thereof and theinternal liange l0". It will be seen that, by this means, a connectionis formed which is loose in lateral direction, but is fixed againstseparation longitudinally, that is, in the line of theshaft. The body ofthe adjusting-member E is shown herein as disposed at an angle to theface-plate 8. This main body is designated ina general way by 1l,andalongitudinal bore, forming a journal, corresponding with the outline ofthe shaft journal, is also shown herein as extending through the face-IOD plate 8 and through the bodyll of the adjustingmember ot' theeccentric. By the connection of the adjusting-member E with the sleeve Cit is evident that a longitudinal movement of the sleeve will change theradius of movement, that is, the stroke, of any longitudinally-fixedmember engaged by or mounted upon the adjusting member E. Such aradially-adjustable-member will now be described.

An adjustable or regulable member, designated in a general way by F, isherein shown as mounted upon the eccentric body portion E. Saidadjustable-member is also shown as formed with acylindrical body-p0rtion13, having a longitudinal bore orjournal let set at such an angle to thelongitudinal axis of the body as will correspond with the angle ofinclination ofthe body of the adjusting-member E with respect to itsaxis. As will be seen, from Figs. 7 and 9, the walls of this journal 14are parallel with the sides thereof when viewed in one position, thatis, when looking against the curved sides of the guide 15 of saidadjustable member, and that they are inclined to the sides of the bodyportion when viewed at right angles to the former position, that is,looking against the straight parallel sides of the guide 15. Thisadjustable-member has a connection, preferably by means such as saidguide 16, with the shaft S, which connection admits of lateralmovementof the adjustable-member F transversely of the shaft, butprevents longitudinal movement of said memberwith respect to said shaft.This connection is shown herein as comprising a guide-way l5, formed ina iixed member designated' in a general way by G, and which is mountedupon the shaft S in rigid connection therewith." This guide-way ispreferably provided with overlapping, internal flanges 17, which engagewithin the correspondingly-recessed portions or tongues 1S of theadjustable member F, and thereby hold said member against longitudinalmovement, while permitting it to slide or reciprocate within theguide-way 16 transversely to the shaft.

As the body 1l of the adjusting member E is maintained in engagementwith the inclined bore or journal 14 in the adjustablemember F, it willbe evident that any longitudinal movement of the inclined, eccentricbody of the adjusting-member will tend to force the longitudinally fixedadjustable member in a lateral direction, so that the periphery thereofwill have its center correspondingly varied in position, with respect tothe driving-shaft S and the axial line thereof, by the lateral movementof the guide within the guide-way 16 of the fixed member G of the shaft.As the adj usting-member is moved toward the adjustable-member by meansof the lever L, acting through the sleeve C, the eccentricity of theadjustable-member Will be increased gradually by the riding up of theinclined journal walls of the adjustable-member upon the inclinedperipherypf the adjusting-member. In a corresponding manner as theadjusting member is withdrawn, and moved away gradually from theadjustable member, the inclined journal or bore of the latter memberrides down the incline of the body-portion 1l, and corresltiondinglyshortens the stroke of the eccentric, that is, the radius ofeccentricity. As the body 13 of the adjustable-member is perpendicularto its guide 15, and to the correspondingtransverse guide-way 1G of themember G, the sides of said body-portion will be parallel with thedriving-shaft S at all times, irrespective of the variations in theradins of eccentricity. Hence, aV member to be driven by said eccentricmay be journaled upon said adjustablemember and be movable in a planetransverse to the driving-shaft and to the said member F. This drivenconnection is herein shown as a strap-rod 19, having an annularI portion2() journaled upon the body-portion 13 of the adjustable-member of theeccentric, whereby an oscillatory, reciprocating movement is imparted tothe strap-rod. 'lhis rod is shown herein as having a connection, similarto that just described, with a driven-member S', carried by suitablelinks, such as 2l, secured to a rock-shaft 22 journaled in suitablebearings one of which is shown at 23, upon the traine of the machine.Any suitable device or mechanism Whose movements are to be controlledmay be connected with the shaft S', and in any desired manner. Any otherwell known means than that herein described may be employed fortransmitting the movements of the eccentric.

In the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated and described thebore or journal ot' the adjusting member E of the eccentric is shown asintersecting the inclined walls of the body portion, or eccentric-barrel11, ot said adjusting or regulatingmember, and,

where the walls of the journal intersect the.

said inclined sides, portions of the body 11 are removed, as at 24 and24', to permit the passage ofthe shaft. Similar grooves or channels 25and 25', respectively, are shown as intersecting the eccentric bore orjournal llt ot the adjustable or regulable-member ot the eccentric,andas of sufficientdepthto provide for the maximum, lateral movement ofsaid regulable member in either direction. Where the angie ofinclination of the body-portion 11, of the adjusting orregulating-member of the eccentric, with respect to the face-platethereof, is such that its journal does not intersect the longitudinalinclined faces ot' the body, and especially when said body-portion is oflarge size, these cut-away portions will not be present, nor will thecorresponding grooves in the journal of the regulable member.

By the construction and organization of devices hereinbefore described avery perfect means is obtained for varying the radius of achangeable-stroke eccentric, while keeping the strain upon the shaftwith which the ec- IOO IIO

transmitted directly to the shaft S. It Will also be apparent that, asthe regulating-member E is mounted directly upon the shaft, it willrevolve freely with the regulable member F and Will not bind in thejournal thereof,

- thus forming not only a solid member with respect to the driving shaftsuch as Will pre-Y vent mis-alignment of itself by end strains, but Willalso provide a rigid, eccentric shaft about which the regulable membermay rotate and revolve as it would about a single or solid shaft. Itwill also be evident that my improved eccentric is especially applicablefor obtaining a very sligbtlvariation in the radius of eccentricity,although its operation is equally positive and effective for anyvariation within the limits of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claimy The combination, with arotatable shaft, of an eccentric comprising a reci procatory regu-vlating-sleeve mounted upon said shaft and having an externaljournal-surface inclined to the axis of the shaft and also having one ofits ends concentric W-ith the shaft, and a regulable sleeve journaledupon said regulating sleeve and having an external longitudinaljournal-surface parallel With the axis of lthe shaft; paralleltransverse guides upon said engage the guides upon the regulable-sleeveand to maintain said sleeve against longitudinal movement, and adaptedalso to permit transverse movement of said regulable-sleeve in saidguide-Ways upon the reciprocation of the regulating-sleeve, whereby theradius or stroke of the eccentric may be varied While maintaining thesolidity of the eccentric as a Whole with respect t-o the shaft; anon-rotative reciprocatory actuating sleeve mounted upon said Yshaftadjacent to that end of the regulating-sleeve which is concentric withthe shaft; a socket in the end of the actuating sleeve, and having anopen side and concentric with the shaft, and in position and adapted toengage said concentric end ot' the regulating-sleeve and to formtherewith a socketjoint, and adapted also to 'separably connect saidsleeves and maintain a substantially rigid longitudinal connectiontherebetween and thereby form a continuous journalsurface; controllingmeans for locking said actuating sleeve against reciprocation; and anannular member rotatable upon and revoluble with said regulable-sleeveand having connection with a driven member, substantially as described.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

FRED. J. DOLE, t FREDERICKA. BoLAND.

